George Lucas is known for creating two of the most popular film franchises of all time, “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones.” Both sagas are great fantasy and adventure films that were elevated by powerful ideas taken from anthropology, religion and mythology.
Lucas has spent a lifetime thinking deeply about the human condition and weaving those themes into his art. So when he was asked to give a speech at the Academy of Achievement in 2013 about his road to success, his views on happiness were incredibly thoughtful.
They also sound a lot like the ideas that he’s shared in his films.
“Happiness is pleasure and happiness is joy,” he begins. “It can be either one, you add them up and it can be the uber category of happiness. Pleasure is short-lived. It lasts an hour, it lasts a minute, it lasts a month. And it peaks and it goes down. It peaks very high. But the next time you want to get that same peak you have to do it twice as much.”
In the video below he explains why the pursuit of pleasure leads us to only crave more while focusing on joy provides an inexhaustible well of happiness.
Lucas shared a similar observation with the writing staff of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and he related the same principle to the Force.
“Only way to overcome the dark side is through discipline,” he said. “The dark side is pleasure, biological and temporary and easy to achieve. The light side is joy, everlasting, and difficult to achieve. A great challenge. Must overcome laziness, give up quick pleasures, and overcome fear which leads to hate.”
Today, powerhouse producer and musician Jack Antonoff has rejuvenated his project Bleachers, releasing a short film titled How Dare You Want More, as well as a bundle of remixes with Earth, Wind & Fire and A.G. Cook.
The remixes are of tracks from Bleachers’ Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, which they released last summer. A.G. Cook reimagines “Stop Making This Hurt” while Earth, Wind, & Fire founding member Verdine White transforms “How Dare You Want More.” The film is a sequel to 2015’s Thank You And Sorry, and it’s directed and produced by Bill Benz while Antonoff, Zoë Chao, Rachel Antonoff, Bob Balaban, Ana Gasteyer, and more star in it. Additionally, the film was recorded at Electric Lady Studios.
Meanwhile, a new album is supposedly on the horizon for the band. In January, before bringing “How Dare You Want More” to SNL, Antonoff tweeted: “I am going to put out a bleachers album this year.” Last year, he worked on some of the biggest LPs, like St. Vincent’s Daddy’s Home, Lorde’s Solar Power, Clairo’s Sling, Lana Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over The Country Club, and more.
Watch How Dare You Want More above and listen to the remixes with Earth, Wind, And Fire and A.G. Cook below.
There was an inking after ‘Game 4’ that the ‘Celtics’ group were going to get their due in the next episode of The NBA Finals, mainly given the ample screen time dedicated to the ‘Warriors’ primary protagonist, Steph Curry (Steph Curry), and because the series felt overdue for it. Love it or hate it, Finals distinguishes itself differently than past Adam Silver productions in that we’re five episodes deep and aside from Steph Curry, none of the main characters are especially clear. Instead, we have a rotating cast of characters that on a night by night basis come off like upstarts, antiheroes, everyday baddies, dreamers, extras and, let’s not forget, potential clones. All those roles have given us plenty to theorize over but by now, no clear person to root for.
So again, after the Steph Curry heavy reveal of ‘Game 4’, and its clear motivations for the group we know to be his teammates in this nocturnal conquest, it was exciting to believe we were going to get the same treatment of their adversaries, the ‘Celtics.’ Unfortunately, due to execution, unclear writing, strange acting decisions or a combination of all three, we didn’t get it.
It was a bold choice to have the ‘Celtics’ clarity episode come in the series’ third scene change, back to the comparatively demure approximation of ‘San Francisco’ from that writhing quagmire of green (loosely referred to as ‘Boston’), but then Ime Udoka is a bold co-director, and Silver loves strangely timed surprises.
Very quickly, that window for clarity closed.
By the seven minute mark of the show director Ime Udoka (at this point, also playing himself) called an abrupt scene and had his stars huddle around him. It remains a mystery whether these scene timeouts are points toward the overall plot or simply there for the audience to speculate on, but whatever was said was not enough to stir the voracity of this group into something recognizable from ‘Game 1’ or ‘Game 3’. Really, it seemed like the ire was raised only for Ime Udoka, who at the 12 minute mark was clearly furious with the direction this episode was taking early on. In a rare moment of clarity from the narrators we were told he’d been given a “technical” — hopefully some advice on how to best rouse his stars.
Physical stunts were prevalent in ‘Game 5’ but given the stilted action that stretched on throughout the episode (there were references to stars on the ‘Celtics’ side being “locked up”) the motivation for each was murky. In one scene, setting up a long-awaited confrontation between Draymond Green (Draymond Green) and Jaylen Brown (Jaylen Brown), Jaylen Brown dove and seemed to sit for some time on top of Draymond Green. Thus far in Finals, the only vehicles have been the bodies of the actors, this was the first time it was suggested that those “vehicles” could be co-opted by a rival. Again, it’s tough to say whether this was the intention of this stunt, or really if this was a piece of physical acting or a fumble, but Jaylen Brown really straddled him.
Another stunt later on in the episode came when Marcus Smart (Marcus Smart) got tangled up with novice Jordan Poole (Jordan Poole), and instead of separating, Marcus Smart was held onto by Jordan Poole. Despite the confusion of the earlier stunt, this felt strategic. Especially when Jordan Poole flung his head back to suggest he had been carelessly cast aside by Marcus Smart. It was overwrought, especially as Jordan Poole’s character — spoiler alert: up to then — had been largely absent from the action. Still, it’s interesting to see the actors of Finals so readily encouraged to commit to their own stunt work.
The physicality in ‘Game 5’ was initially what it seemed like this episode was going to be all about. Kevon Looney (Kevon Looney) was limping off set, Robert Williams III fell hard from an aerial stunt and lay flat on his back for some time, but the violence of the episode thankfully cooled in what’s become the show’s approximation of a golden hour — “the third quarter.”
This is a loose qualification of time we’ve grown used to seeing the ‘Warriors’ group use to their advantage, slipping out of binds like their own Scooby-Doo gang, or else restoring their collective honor against accumulating sleights. So the twist in ‘Game 5’ was genuinely shocking when it was instead the floundering ‘Celtics’ that took that stretch for their own. It was enjoyable, had tones of a classic redemptive heist story, but it didn’t last.
Instead, the camaraderie of that group, and any glimpse into the collective psyche of the ‘Celtics’, slipped back into the murky, what-is-even-happening, tone of ‘Game 5.’
If you’ve been watching (and reading) you’ve probably picked up on some of Finals alternate reality beats. They started subtly but have ratcheted up in obviousness as the series has worn on. Two impossible to miss moments came in ‘Game 5’. First, a graphic that loomed superimposed over the court for some time showed Gary Payton II (Gary Payton II), who we now understand to be part of the ‘Warriors’ faction, in no less than eight different previous realities. Is this a Multiverse of Madness rip?
YouTube
The other came before the co-directors called action, when an apparent body double for Klay Thompson (Klay Thompson) took to the set during dress rehearsal. I’d be happy to cast it outside of the rest of the easter eggs placed in plain sight by Silver and the Finals writers, only that the narrators repeatedly referenced the incident, bringing it into the narrative.
And of course, the narration ceased to help at all in tying any of these disparate ends together. Once, prompted by nothing and no one, a narrator mused “The mindset has to be want the smoke, embrace the smoke” (Possible Lost reference? I give up), and later another gave us what could’ve been a riddle, but sounded like someone forgetting a sentence partway with, “Sometimes the pressure of a different role is not the right role for every player.” So I’m literally begging now, what are the narrators trying to tell us? Really, what?
The bright point in everything came of course when Steph Curry’s cast-mates responded to the outbursts we saw from him in ‘Game 4,’ by showing up to work in ‘Game 5.’ Jordan Poole let fly the orb to reclaim the all-important “third quarter” for the ‘Warriors’ and Andrew Wiggins (Andrew Wiggins), typically a more demure method actor, was hard to peel your eyes away from. Really, it was Emmy-worthy stuff from him.
While it does feel like the ‘Celtics’ arc still needs its due for Finals to come to a satisfying conclusion, this series hasn’t been green-lit for another season. For how exciting, how much the actors are putting their bodies through, even for how downright bizarre, you’d hate to see Finals get a rush-job treatment to close out the show.
Denzel Curry is, by all means, having an excellent year. He’s just a few days removed from a performance at Governors Ball where he performed records from his fifth album Melt My Eyez See Your Future. That full-length record arrived earlier this year with guest appearances from Robert Glasper, Saul Williams, T-Pain, 6lack, Rico Nasty, JID, Jasiah, Slowthai, and more. It’s been three months since that project was released and Curry is still on a tear with his rapping. The latest example came when he stopped by Funkmaster Flex’s HOT 97 show to lay a piercing freestyle over Cozz’s “Knock Tha Hustle.”
The new freestyle arrives after Curry recruited Key Glock for a remix of “Walkin,” one of the more popular records from his Melt My Eyez See Your Future album. The new take of the record arrives as rumors regarding a deluxe reissue of Melt My Eyez See Your Future which is set to feature an appearance from DMV rapper IDK who is one of Curry’s frequent collaborators.
You can listen to Curry’s freestyle over Cozz’s “Knock Tha Hustle” in the video above.
Melt My Eyez See Your Future is out now via PH/Loma Vista. You can stream it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
It’s been two weeks since a jury found Amber Heard guilty of defamation against her ex-husband Johnny Depp. (He, too, was found guilty, but for fewer charges and for far less money.) At the time, the actress said she was “heartbroken,” as well as disappointed, not just for her, but for “what this verdict means for other women.” She also claimed she planned to appeal. She’s kept quiet since then, only speaking up about it in a multi-part interview whose first segment aired on Tuesday.
It was the same day a wild rumor spread around. During the trial, Heard testified that her part in the sequel to Aquaman, in which she played the female lead, had been dramatically cut down. The rumor claimed that Warner Bros. didn’t stop there. Instead, it was alleged, they were removing her role entirely. But a representative for Heard quickly shot that one down.
“The rumor mill continues as it has from day one — inaccurate, insensitive, and slightly insane,” a representative told Entertainment Weekly.
Since the verdict was read, Heard’s lawyer admitted that the actress “absolutely” can’t pay the $10 million she owes Depp. During the trial, she claimed that she’d lost work due to Depp’s “smear campaign” against her. In her recent interview with Savannah Guthrie, Heard stood her ground, saying, “To my dying day, I’ll stand by every word of my testimony.”
In the meantime, people will have to wait to see how much of Heard winds up in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom when it hits theaters on March 17, 2023.
Some things are just too good not to share, and here at Upworthy we work to find uplifting stories of the best of humanity to share with our audience. When 3TV/CBS5 reported on Jaswiendre Singh, a local gas station owner doing good, we had to share. Singh has been selling gas for nearly 50 cents cheaper than his purchase price in an effort to help his customers feel less pain at the pump due to high gas prices. The gas station owner and his wife have been working extra hours to make up for the money they’re losing on gasoline sales.
Singh told 3TV/CBS5 that his customers buy around 1,000 gallons of gas a day, which means he loses about $500 a day by underpricing his fuel. The loss doesn’t stop him because he wants to do what he can to help people with the rising cost of fuel. Filling up your gas tank for the work week is becoming more and more stressful as the average national gas price exceeds a record $5, and Arizona’s price per gallon is even higher than the national average, according to AAA. But with Singh’s help, the people of Phoenix have a gas station they can trust to give them the best price possible, even if it means a loss for the owner.
Singh told the reporter at 3TV/CBS5, “My mother and my father did teach us to help if you have something. If you have something you have to share with other people.” Singh offsets the loss by more customers buying goods from inside the gas station.
Around the country, people continue to struggle as they try to afford gas for their vehicles. Soaring gas prices are leading to the use of reliable old methods to help save on the much-needed commodity—things like walking or biking places, using public transport, taking fewer grocery store runs and avoiding long road trips.
Not everyone can avoid driving their cars, however. Many people live in areas that don’t have access to public transportation or their homes are too far away to walk to their destination. These people may benefit from using apps like GasBuddy, Gas Guru, Waze or AAA TripTik Travel Planner, which help the user locate the cheapest gas in their area to help save a few cents a gallon.
Hopefully soon the gas prices will return to a somewhat normal level, but until then, people will continue to look for ways to save and maybe more people like Singh will find innovative ways to help. We’re all in what feels to be a gasoline crisis together and it’s amazing to see someone so willingly help people out without expecting anything in return.
Imagine: You’re on your honeymoon with your beloved. You celebrate newlywed bliss with a beach day, nothing but listening to the ocean waves while feeling the sand in-between your toes. Euphoria quickly turns to dread, however, as you discover you’ve lost the very important trinket meant to symbolize your undying love—the wedding ring!
Chaos ensues, then resignation. But suddenly, out of nowhere, you receive a message that your ring has been found and recovered by a friendly … Lego man? Talk about an emotional rollercoaster.
Strange as it sounds, this was a very real situation. The Independent reported that Richard Whetter, 44, and his new bride Anne, 42, had been strolling along Portelet Bay in Jersey, Channel Islands, during their honeymoon when Richard realized his wedding ring had gone missing. Not quite used to wearing it yet, Richard had taken the ring off to go swimming, then forgot to put it back on. “My heart sank,” he lamented. For all they knew, the ring was probably long gone, likely picked up and pawned by one the area’s famous Jersey cows.
The worried couple alerted the porter at their hotel, who thankfully knew exactly who to contact for such a crisis.
Luckily for the Whetters, Jersey is home to Steve Andrews, a local metal detectorist who is extremely good at what he does. Andrews’ Instagram is full of recovered relics—everything from old coins to vintage WW2 explosive shells.
Turning his passion into service, Andrews regularly offers his metal detecting skills at no charge to those who need help. For each find, he takes a picture of the recovered item next to a Lego replica of himself, metal detector and all. Cause why not?
“I got it as a jokey present from my sister, and it just stuck,” Andrews said, according to Good News Network. “The Lego man is just a nice thing to send to people – I find their item and take a photo as a sort of ‘I’ve found it!’ It certainly does make good news feel even cheerier.”
Andrews found the Whetter’s ring after only about 10 minutes, one of his “quickest searches ever completed,” and now Richard and Anne have not only some welcome relief, but an adorable little memento.
Metal detecting is a bit of an obscure hobby, but one with evident benefits (not just counting the potential payoff of certain finds). In addition to getting outdoor exercise, there’s also quite a bit of mental stimulation that goes into the pastime. Metaldetector.com boasts that a hobbyist will learn about geology, biology, electronics and even meteorology as they perfect their treasure-hunting skills. Not to mention the built-in history lessons one could acquire, or the fact that each successful haul can help clean up the environment.
Plus, as this story has shown us, it can help bring people together in heartwarming ways. Keep doing what you do, Steve Andrews! You and your Lego mini-me are making the world a better place, one epic find at a time.
“Jeopardy!” contestant Mazin Omer caused people across the country to scream at their television sets on Monday after he gave an epically wrong answer to a question about British knights.
When Omer chose a clue in the “Knight After Knight” category for $400, a photo of British actor Michael Caine, 89, appeared. Host Mayim Bialik read the clue: “To honor his father, this star here was knighted in his birth name, so he’s Sir Maurice Micklewhite.
Jagger and Caine don’t bear much of a resemblance, so it appears as though he was thrown by the last name Micklewhite and thought that was a reason why The Rolling Stones singer may have changed his name to Mick Jagger.
However, Mick Jagger is the “Satisfaction” singer’s real name. He was born Michael Philip Jagger and he’s known as Mick, a shortened version of his first name.
Omer’s bungling of the question also inspired a whole lot of chatter on social media. A lot of folks couldn’t believe that someone could mistake the two-time Academy Award-winner and star of classics such as “Hannah and Her Sisters,” “Alfie,” and “The Dark Knight” for the most popular rock frontman of all time.
They just showed a picture of Michael Caine on @Jeopardy and the dude answers “Who is Mick Jagger?”
#jeopardy is on 30 minutes earlier where I live than where my mom lives.
Just texted her: Someone is going to say Mick Jagger and you will yell at the TV.
— Katie Labovitz (She/Her) (@klabovitz) June 13, 2022
Dude on Jeopardy just called a pic of Michael Caine Mick Jagger, I’m dead.
— Karyn Brown M.F.I.C. (@KarynKaryn2543) June 13, 2022
Unfortunately for Omer, he didn’t win on Monday night. As reported by Last Night On, reigning champion Eric Ahasic brought home $26,800 while Omer narrowly beat Lisa Hernson for second place, $401 to $400.
Both Ahasic and Omer missed the “Final Jeopardy!” question, a clue in the category “TV Legends”: “Buster Keaton considered her the tops in her field &, in fact, was one of her early mentors.”
The answer was “Who is Lucille Ball?”
Things didn’t go well for Mick Jagger either on Monday night. The Rolling Stones had to cancel a concert in Amsterdam at the Johan Cruijff ArenA last-minute because Jagger contracted COVID-19.
“The Rolling Stones have been forced to call off tonight’s concert in Amsterdam at the Johan Cruijff ArenA, following Mick Jagger testing positive after experiencing symptoms of COVID upon arrival at the stadium,” the band said in a statement on its official Instagram page. “The Rolling Stones are deeply sorry for tonight’s postponement, but the safety of the audience, fellow musicians and the touring crew has to take priority.”
As for Caine, last year he admitted that his storied career may be winding down. In an interview promoting the film “Best Sellers” starring Aubrey Plaza he told Vanity Fair that “I haven’t worked for two years, and I have a spine problem which affects my legs so I can’t walk very well.
“There haven’t been any offers honestly for two years, because nobody’s been making any movies I’d wanna do,” he added.
However, according to IMDb, he has two films that are slated for release in the coming months, “Now You See Me 3” and “The Great Escaper.”
Lizzo—an artist who has made inclusion a part of her platform—received criticism from fans for a word included in her newly released single “Grrrls,” which was seen by some as derogatory toward disabled people.
The song’s opening line includes the word “spazz,” which in broad slang terms can mean “random, wild outburst,” according to Urban Dictionary. As many disability advocates pointed out, however, “spastic” is also used to describe someone with an actual medical condition where they lose control of their muscles (cerebral palsy, in particular). The term has often been used as an insult, implying that someone is “awkward or clumsy.” Hence why many view it as an “ableist slur.”
Fans who were disappointed by its inclusion in her song posted about it online, which eventually caught the attention of Lizzo herself.
“Hey @lizzo, my disability Cerebral Palsy is literally classified as Spastic Diplegia (where spasticity refers to unending painful tightness in my legs) your new song makes me pretty angry + sad. ‘S–z’ doesn’t mean freaked out or crazy. It’s an ableist slur. It’s 2022. Do better,” one person explained.
Another added: “Oh @lizzo. A VERY influential figure, using the word sp@z in her new song. An offensive and derogatory term. As someone who’s written about the use of disability language, especially slang/slur words which have been used in schools, this is a huge step back. Please, remove it.”
So … what do you do when you say something hurtful, despite that being the furthest thing from what you intended? How do you make it right without compromising your own integrity? You do exactly what Lizzo did.
Without missing a beat, Lizzo made a statement on Instagram that acknowledged the pain caused by using the word, focusing on impact rather than intent. It’s a crucial shift that makes an apology authentic.
“It’s been brought to my attention that there is a harmful word in my new song ‘GRRRLS’. Let me make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language. As a fat black woman in America, I’ve had many hurtful words used against me so I overstand the power words can have (whether intentionally or in my case, unintentionally),” the singer wrote.
That simple change made a world of difference. Lizzo soon received an outpouring of love, even from those who initially reached out in retaliation. Amazing things happen when people feel heard.
I’m going to cry 😭 Thank you so much for hearing us Lizzo and for understanding that this was only ever meant gently and being open to learning, it honestly means the world ❤️. You’re a real true ally https://t.co/RbQCbAwpR6
Some even noted their own discoveries, sharing how they too learned about the word’s other meaning and plan to change moving forward.
Even the most conscientious person doesn’t know everything. No one is going to know how every word is translated across cultures and backgrounds. We are all human. But compassion doesn’t have to get lost in translation. There doesn’t have to be drama in allyship. Sometimes it might be as simple as a more mindful approach to our ever-evolving language.
Despite what another Lizzo song suggests, maybe truth doesn’t have to hurt.
At the time, Election Night 2020 was already considered a fiasco. Donald Trump seemed to be leading in several states, but only because absentee ballots weren’t allowed to be counted to later on. As the country leaned decisively Joe Biden’s way, Trump went live on television to prematurely declare victory — a move he later tried to pass on to Dr. Mehmet Oz. We’ve learned a lot more about what went down behind the scenes, especially now thanks to the Jan. 6 hearings. Now there are pictures of the Trump team that fateful night, and they aren’t pretty.
These photos — which were published exclusively in “Betrayal” — show the scene at the White House on election night. Look at the faces — these people did not think they were winning. pic.twitter.com/3gGJQ71IIF
In his recent book Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show, ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl added to the pile of books about the former president’s chaotic single term in office. It included some pictures inside the White House on the big night, which were made public to those who didn’t buy the book after the Jan. 6 hearings delved deep into what went down. To put it lightly, they do not show a group of people who thought their side was winning.
In one, presumably taken early in the evening, Trump’s entourage — including Don Jr., Eric Trump and his wife Lara, Ivanka and Jared Kushner, as well as Stephen Miller — everyone’s all smiles and giving the thumbs up. It’s the only happy one. The others show grim and/or exasperated faces, tense stare at phone screens, Jared staring at campaign manager Bill Stepien in disbelief as Eric shoots a thousand-yard stare.
The photos were allegedly taken as more ballots were counted and Trump’s re-election fortunes waned.
The images align with the many revelations in Monday’s Jan. 6 hearing. Among them was Stepien testifying that he and many others advised Trump against prematurely declaring victory, which he did at the suggestion of a reportedly tanked Rudy Giuliani. (The former “America’s Mayor” may have overcorrected by claiming all he drank was Diet Pepsi.) Perhaps, as Bill Barr suggested, Trump believed the voter fraud nonsense. But these photos strongly suggest he was one of the only ones.
You can see more pictures of that grim night over at ABC News.
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